This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art. Compressors used to compress a refrigerant, such as R134a, in an air-conditioning system of a vehicle are known; however, such compressors are not without their share of limitations. One such limitation is the amount of heat stored within the compressor, which is created and held within a swash plate chamber (i.e. crank case) of a variable displacement air conditioning compressor. Prolonged subjection to heat may decrease the useful life of internal compressor parts and thus the useful life of the compressor. By controlling the volume of lubricating oil that is retained within the swash plate chamber, such as during specific volumes of compressor piston displacement, heat generated within the swash plate chamber may be controlled.
Another limitation of air conditioning compressors relates to the amount of oil that is permitted to be discharged from the compressor swash plate chamber and become resident within other components of an attached air conditioning refrigeration system, such as within a condenser and an evaporator. Oil that becomes resident in a condenser and an evaporator may decrease the cooling effectiveness of refrigerant passing through such components because a layer of oil within an internal cavity of such components decreases the heat transfer performance of such components and the overall cooling performance of the air conditioning system. What is needed then is a device that is capable of helping to retain oil within the compressor swash plate chamber when the compressor operates at prescribed compressor displacements.